Quilted bed blanket

ABSTRACT

A quilted blanket (1) with a preferably rectangular covering and a loosely packed filling is described. The covering has at least one closable opening through which it can be filled with filling material. So that this blanket (1) can be used both as a so-called summer blanket and as a so-called winter blanket and so that it can be easily filled and emptied, particularly partially filled and emptied, the filling material comprises loosely packed filling material such as aggregates of spherically wrapped fibres. The opening of the covering can be closed by means of an easily openable fastener, such as a zipper, VELCRO tape, adhesive tape or by the like, or means of buttons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blankets, particularly quilts, should protect the human body. Theycreate a zone between the body and the surrounding air which impedes anexchange of heat between the body and the surroundings and therebyreduces the radiation of heat from the human body, thereby preventing anundercooling of the resting body.

Depending on the ambient temperature, it may be desired that more orless of the heat produced by the human body escape through the blanket.If the ambient temperature is low and the heat gradient is thusrelatively high, as for example in the winter, then the blanket shouldretain as much of the heat produced by the body as possible. If, on theother hand, the ambient temperature is relatively high, as for examplein the summer, then it may even be desired that as much heat as possiblebe carried away from the human body.

As a rule, the retention of heat is essentially achieved by providing animmovable air volume above the human body, i.e. the effect is for themost part achieved by a stationary air cushion, whereby use is made ofthe fact that air has a low coefficient of thermal conduction.

This means that a blanket, in particular a quilt, should allow atransmission of heat that is inversely proportional to the temperaturedrop. This is not possible with conventional blankets.

It was therefore proposed to use different blankets in the summer thanin the winter or fall and spring which is why one speaks of so-called"summer blankets", "winter blankets" and "fall blankets".

"Winter blankets" and "fall blankets" are designed in such a way that ifpossible there are no thermal bridges. Thus, instead of normal quiltingseams, webs are used, which ensure that the top sheet is the samedistance, if possible, from the bottom sheet in the area of thestitching as in the area between the stitching. Fall blankets and inparticular winter blankets are also fuller or thicker in order to beable to hold as large an air volume as possible. In the summer theseblankets are too warm, i.e. heat builds up under the blanket since theheat produced by the person is not carried away due to the low heatconductivity and the relatively low temperature drop in the summer.

"Summer blankets" are very light, and can also have quilting seamsforming otherwise undesired thermal bridges. These so-called thermalbridges allow the heat to pass through very easily. If necessary, asummer blanket should also be able to absorb or let through theperspiration given off by the human body.

It has also been proposed to design a quilt as a blanket system suchthat several individual blankets can be combined into one overallblanket to form one blanket which is thicker in accordance with theindividual blankets. However, this blanket is then also correspondinglyheavier.

In both known proposals, the use of two blankets is provided, wherebythe second blanket must be stored when it is not being used.

A so-called web blanket in which the outer surfaces of the blanket arejoined together by means of webs also on the outer edges of the blanketis known from German U-8.704.127.8. The blanket is divided into aplurality of chambers by the inner webs. Closable openings can beprovided in at least one such outer web, to allow filling material,which can be down, synthetic filling, wool and the like, to be fed in.The inner webs are designed in part as discontinuous webs in such a waythat the openings of the inner webs also permit access to the internalchambers. Since down can also be used as filling material in thisblanket, the closures in the outer webs must be designed to bedown-proof, i.e. they are sewn shut after the blanket is filled. Oncemanufacturing of this blanket is finished, its properties are no longerchanged. The filling material can be evenly distributed in the blanketthrough the discontinuous inner webs.

A so-called coffered blanket is known from German A-3 147 023. Herecontinuous and intersecting inner webs are provided which divide theblanket into a plurality of chambers. It is proposed that continuouseasily closable opening devices, such as zippers, be providedessentially over the length of the webs extending in one direction. Toreplace, empty, and fill the blanket, an edge seam of the blanket isopened and subsequently sewn up so that the cover is down-proof. To filland empty the blanket, the zippers disposed on the inner webs can beopened and closed.

Thus, filling or emptying the two aforenamed blankets entails a greatdeal of work, in particular the outside opening of the covering mustalways be sewn up again.

From German A-491 524 and Swiss A-658 177 blankets are known which havea casing with longitudinal chambers or pockets into which toroidal orsquare cushions can be inserted or removed. Thus, in the summer,cushions with a different design can be used than in the winter. Bothblankets are basically casings for taking up several smaller blanketparts which can also be used separately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to provide a blanket,particularly a quilt, with a preferably rectangular covering and aloosely packed filling, wherein the covering has at least one closableopening through which the covering can be filled with filling materialand whereby the blanket is quilted, so that it can be used both as aso-called summer blanket and as a so-called winter blanket. The blanketshould be easy to fill and empty, and, in particular, partially fill andempty.

This object is attained by the blanket according to the invention inwhich the filling material comprises aggregates of spherically wrappedfibers, and the opening of the covering can be closed with an easilyopenable fastener, such as a zipper, VELCRO tape, adhesive fastener andthe like or with buttons.

The user of the blanket can thus fill the blanket with more or lessfilling material and thus adapt the insulating property to his personalrequirements in accordance with the prevailing ambient temperatures.Thus, the covering will be filled with more filling material in thewinter in order to increase the volume, whereas in the summer thefilling volume is reduced in order to thus increase the diathermancy orthermal insulation of the blanket. Thus, the degree of filling of theblanket is changed in accordance with the respective climaticrequirements. The filling material should always have approximately thesame density, i.e. it should not be compacted by overfilling since, forthe most part, only the weight of the blanket is increased by this; thediathermancy is essentially unchanged.

The covering can be opened and closed in the simplest manner in order toremove or fill the blanket. The opening can also be closed, for example,by parts of the covering that are folded inwards.

To simplify filling and emptying on the one hand, and on the other handto prevent the filling material from escaping, the filling materialcomprises or consists solely of aggregates of spherically wrapped fiberswhich adhere slightly to one another, preventing parts of the fillingmaterial from escaping unchecked, as can happen with down, after thecovering is opened. Thus, smaller metered quantities can be removed oradded. The filling material can, however, also contain flocks, foamsticks and the like.

The two sheets of the blanket are advantageously joined together withstitching at points spaced apart from one another. The stitching can becarried out in such a way that the stitching is also through the fillingmaterial. For this purpose the blanket casing is filled with fillingmaterial evenly distributed in the casing. Stitching is then carried outin known fashion through the filled blanket. Individual parts of thefilling material, particularly the aggregates of spherically wrappedfibers, are thereby pierced by the quilting threads.

The stitching forms, for example, a line pattern and can thereby becontinuous or discontinuous. The stitching can also be arranged in apattern over the surface of the blanket or for the most part can merelybe in the form of dots. According to a special embodiment at least someof the previously described, various manners of stitching in a blanketcan be combined with one another.

It is recommended that a plurality of closable openings be provided,especially in quilts, in particular quilts with bulging or tubularchambers arranged parallel to one another and longitudinally ortransversely to the longitudinal sides of the covering. If necessary, anopening may be allocated to each individual chamber. The individualchambers can then also be filled differently. Thus, for example, thefoot area can contain substantially more filling material, especially inthe winter, than the head area, whereas, for example in the summer, thedegree of filling in both areas can be substantially the same but lower.The longitudinal chambers in the center can have a higher degree offilling, especially in the winter, than the outer longitudinal chambersof the blanket.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the closableopenings are arranged in the peripheral seam of the blanket. This is notonly very advantageous for the manufacture of such a blanket since itcan then be manufactured simply and inexpensively, but it also provesitself in practice since in each case there is only a smaller openingand the material to be removed or filled in is to be handled in a narrowopening crosssection. The filling materials described above can beevenly distributed very easily even with a closed opening.

Such a blanket can be manufactured by filling a blanket covering, whichcomprises two sheets that are merely joined together at their peripheralseam and whereby at least one zipper or the like is sewn in thisperipheral seam, with filling material such as aggregates of sphericallywrapped fibers and by closing the zipper or the like. The filled blanketis thereafter provided with quilting seams in a pattern over the entiresurface. The stitching is advantageously also through the fillingmaterial which tends to reduce the thermal bridges otherwise present inthe area of the quilting seams.

The stitchings can in part be parallel to one another, thereby formingbulging or tubular chambers. However, stitching only in the form of dotscan also be provided, particularly in the center part of the blanket.

The opening or openings are preferably arranged at one longitudinal endof the blanket.

Further particulars and advantages of the invention can be ascertainedfrom the exemplary embodiments described herebelow and shown in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: a top view of a blanket according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2: a top view of a blanket according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 3: a top view of a blanket according to a third embodiment, and

FIG. 4: a top view of a blanket according to a fourth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 to 4 each illustrate a blanket 1 with a size, for example, of1.35 m×2 m, i.e. the illustration shows the blankets approximately on ascale of 1:10. These blankets 1 have longitudinal edges 2 and transverseedges 3.

These blankets 1 are divided into different chambers 30 to 38 bydifferent manners of stitching 20 to 23, whereby additional shorterstitchings 40 to 44 are arranged in these chambers 30 to 38.Furthermore, zippers 50 to 54 through which filling material can beadded or removed at any time after they are opened are provided in theedges of the blankets. An opening could also be provided such as alongline 25 which would be closed by folding over the corner of blanket 1.

In FIG. 1 bulging chambers 30 are formed by linear stitchings 20, whichform an angle of 45° with the side edges 2 and 3 of the blanket 1, theends of these chambers diagonally closing the side edges 2 and 3.Triangular chambers 30' are thereby formed in the corners of theblanket 1. Adjacent thereto, in each case is a second bulging chamber30", with a third bulging chamber 30"' contiguous said second chamber. Arelatively large, in this case diamond-shaped chamber 31 is disposedwith this third bulging chamber 30"'.

Zippers 50 are sewn in the seam connecting the two sheets of the blanket1 at both longitudinal edges 2 thereof, these zippers extending overalmost the entire length of the side edges 2 of the blanket 1 but at adistance from its corners.

The diagonal arrangement of the bulging chambers 30' to 30"' prevent thefilling material from being moved into the corners of the blanket 1through intense movement by the sleeping person.

FIG. 2 shows a cover with bulging chambers 32 formed by stitchings 21,the axis of these chambers being aligned parallel to the transverseedges 3 of the blanket 1. Two such chambers 32 are arranged at one endof the blanket 1, which faces the user's head when in use, whereas thereare four chambers 32 at the other end of the blanket 1. A large,rectangular chamber 33 is arranged therebetween, its width correspondingto approximately four times the width of the bulging chambers 32. As arule this chamber 33 lies on the upper part of a person's body. Shorterstitchings 41, spaced apart from one another, are arranged in this largechamber 33. Some of the shorter stitchings 41 are perpendicular toothers.

The blanket 1 according to FIG. 2 has two zippers 51, 52 on only onelongitudinal edge 2, these zippers being just large enough that allchambers 32 and 33 can be filled or emptied through them.

FIG. 3 shows a blanket 1 in which bulging chambers 34 formed bystitching 22 are formed in the shoulder and arm region (at the top inthe drawing) and in the leg and foot region, the longitudinal axis ofthese chambers being parallel to the longitudinal edges of theblanket 1. Five such chambers 34 are illustrated in this case, however,there can be more.

A large chamber 35, which is open compared to the bulging chambers 34,is arranged between the shoulder and arm region and the leg and footregion. Short stitchings 42 are arranged in the openings of theindividual bulging chambers 34, these stitchings closing approximatelyhalf of the respective opening and thus separating the bulging chambers34 from the large chamber 35. Although filling material can reach thelarge chamber 35 from the bulging chambers 34 and vice-versa, this isrelatively difficult.

Short stitchings 43 that are again spaced apart from one another arealso arranged in the large chamber of this blanket 1. A zipper 53through which the bulging chambers 34 can be filled and emptied, isarranged at each of the two transverse edges 3 of the cover 1.

FIG. 4 shows a blanket 1 in which chambers are separated from oneanother by relatively short stitchings 23 compared to the stitchingsdescribed above. In this case also there is a smaller shoulder and armregion (chamber 36 in the drawing, top) and, in comparison, a larger legand foot region (chamber 37) with an even larger middle area (chamber38) arranged therebetween. These shorter stitchings are only slightlyspaced apart from one another so that relatively little filling materialcontaining aggregates of fiber can penetrate through the chamberboundaries formed thereby.

In addition, shorter stitchings 44 spaced farther apart from one anotherare arranged in all three chambers 36, 37 and 38. A zipper 54, throughwhich the two chambers 36 and 37 can be filled or emptied, is disposedat each transverse edge 3.

A blanket 1 is manufactured in that a covering with the zippers 50 to 54is produced and filled with filling material, as indicated in only asmall portion of blanket 1 in FIG. 1 at 60 particularly aggregates ofspherically wrapped fibers. After the zippers 50 to 54 are closed, theblanket 1 is provided with the stitchings 20 to 23 and 40 to 44described above. The stitching is thus through the aggregates of fiberwhich are also stitched. The thermal bridge which usually exists inknown quilts is substantially reduced by this.

While the degree of filling of the large chambers 31, 33, 35 and 38 isas a rule no longer changed, the user of the blanket 1 can fill orpartially empty the other chambers 30, 32, 34, 36 and 37 in accordancewith his wishes and requirements. It is also possible to completelyempty one or several chambers, for example during a very hot summer.

Additional filling material can be supplied in casings, such as plastictubes or the like, whereby these casings filled with refill material canbe arranged within the blanket 1, for example in a larger chamberaccessible from the outside.

The higher the degree of filling of a chamber, the greater the volume ofsaid chamber and the higher the thermal insulation offered by theblanket. The maximum degree of filling (100%) results when the blanketcannot expand further. During the summer a filling degree of 50 to 70%is as a rule sufficient, whereas during the winter a filling degree of80 to 100% is felt to be comfortable.

It is possible to fill in even more filling material, but this onlyincreases the weight of the blanket not the thermal insulation.

Moreover, it is possible to fill individual chambers with differentfilling materials, for example aggregates of fiber made of wool,synthetics, plant or animal fibers. These materials have differentproperties with respect to the absorption of perspiration which can beutilized purposefully.

As a rule, the shoulder and arm region and the leg and foot region arefilled more than the middle region of the blanket. With the blanket 1according to FIG. 1 the areas in the corners of the blanket can befilled more in order, on the one hand, for the blanket to lie betterbecause of the higher weight and, on the other hand, to better warm thearms and hands or the feet.

With the blanket 1 according to FIG. 3 the middle chamber in the footregion can be filled more, while the two outer chambers are, forexample, wrapped around the feet.

To sum up, it can be established that the blanket according to theinvention provides a "building block" so that everyone can fill his ownpersonal blanket.

The shorter dot-like stitchings 40 to 44 in chambers 31, 33, 35 and 38prevent the filling material within the blanket 1 from slipping intoregions in which it is not wanted. The aggregates of fiber used adhereslightly to one another, in contrast, for example, to down or feathers,so that it is guaranteed that the blanket is always filled according tothe wishes of the user, even in partial areas.

Aggregates of spherically wrapped fibers, which can be used in thisblanket, are described, for example, in EP-A-0 257 658 published in themeantime and in EP-A-0 259 730.

It is to be understood that preferred embodiments of the invention havebeen described above and that further changes and/or modifications canbe made without departing from the spirit of the invention asencompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A quilted blanket comprising first and secondsubstantially rectangular covering sheets and a loosely packed fillingmaterial made of aggregates of spherically wrapped fibers, said coveringincluding at least one closeable opening through which the covering canbe filled with filling material, wherein the opening of the covering canbe closed by means of an easily openable fastener and wherein a largechamber is arranged approximately in the middle of the blanket in whichspaced, dot-like stitchings, spaced far apart from another, arearranged, said stitchings forming differently shaped chambers in theblanket.
 2. A blanket according to claim 1 wherein the large chamber isdiamond-shaped.
 3. A blanket according to claim 1 wherein the chambersare joined to one another, but are only restricted by dot-likestitchings lying in one line.
 4. A blanket according to claim 1 whereina plurality of chambers in the blanket have different degrees offilling.
 5. A blanket according to claim 4 wherein individual chambersare empty.
 6. A blanket according to claim 1 wherein a plurality ofchambers in the blanket are filled with different filling material.
 7. Ablanket according to claim 1 wherein each individual chamber is providedwith an associated opening.
 8. A blanket according to claim 1 whereinsaid blanket includes a peripheral seam and said at least one closeableopening is arranged in said peripheral seam.
 9. A blanket according toclaim 1 wherein said at least one closeable opening is arranged in alongitudinal end of the blanket.